


Security Blanket

by SimplyEllie



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Tony Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-01
Updated: 2013-06-01
Packaged: 2017-12-13 14:40:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/825453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyEllie/pseuds/SimplyEllie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark can't sleep, because of reasons... that he can't quite remember at the moment. A simple feel good one shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Security Blanket

His mind was surprisingly... blank. Tony sat there, screwdriver in one hand, equipment resting on the table demanding to be tinkered with, but nothing was happening. His arm didn't want to move. His brain was quiet, skittering equations absent.

He was like a docile shark, just coasting along without any specific thoughts.

"Huh." Tony slumped back in his chair, tossing the screwdriver into his toolbox. Was that not the right appliance?

What was he even working on?

Well it sat right in front of him; it was the right forearm down of the Mark 42. This piece in particular was being difficult, latching onto the wrong hand when commanded, which wouldn't matter if there wasn't a thing called thumbs. Yeah, he needed those, and the left attachment was getting annoyed that something else had taken its place before it could get there, resulting in a slapping fight between the two arms.

With Tony's arm still suited in.

And his thumb digging into his hand.

But on further inspection, the glitch was fixed. A minor error, didn't take too long to rework.

So he was done? No, his work was never done. But why was he drawing a blank?

"JARVIS, what's on my To Do List?" Tony propped his hands behind his head.

"Nothing Sir, since a list was never generated."

"Maybe I should work on that, a list."

Because the workshop itself didn't have any glaring errors. Everything was neat, well neat as in Tony knew where to locate everything for once. His suits were in optimum condition, working thumb compartments and all. Improvements were pending, but nothing needed an upgrade.

"You are usually good with juggling multiple mental processes. Is a tangible list necessary?" JARVIS said.

"Maybe... Yes? I don't know."

"Shall I take your temperature, Sir?"

"Don't think that's it." Tony put a hand to his forehead. "I feel like I should be doing something. I just don't know what."

He sat back and scrubbed his face with the pads of his fingers. Nothing felt out of place at 4:17 in the morning, nothing that he could recall at least. He was fully awake and ready to work, or maybe he wasn't.

"Are you hungry, perhaps?" JARVIS asked.

"Even if I was I'm not going into the kitchen. Definitely not doing it again."

Because freakin' Barton is in the kitchen at random hours of the night. It'd be one thing if the guy was grabbing a midnight snack, but no, he sometimes sleeps in there, which that in itself isn't bad but it's the way that he sleeps that made Tony nearly shit a brick the other night.

There he was, trying to smuggle something greasy after Cap purged his supply and replaced it all with healthy alternatives, the fridge being the initial victim. Zilch. He had went to open the freezer when he sees a pair of eyes huge and glassy and unblinking looming overhead, and seeing into Tony's nonexistent soul.

Yes, Tony nearly shat a brick when he released a very manly scream because who wouldn't be caught off guard, and after a few seconds Barton had the nerve to scream back. He hopped off the fridge and bolted out of the kitchen, as if Tony caught him off guard.

 The next day Romanoff informs him that of course he caught Barton off guard, because that’s how he frikken sleeps. Eyes open and unblinking.

Nope. Not entering the kitchen, even if it was his own tower.

"Don't think that's it." Tony stared up into the headlights, a hand over his face. Fingers splayed. Well if he didn't have an answer to this equation, then there was his fail proof back up. Legitimately fail proof since he hasn't let Tony down yet.

Steve, he probably knew the reason.

Tony left the room, taking the blow torch from DUM-E's flailing hand and setting it on another counter top on the way out. “Bad DUM-E. Stay in your corner.”

Back in his room, lights off, it took Tony a few seconds to adjust but he could make out the outline of Steve's back from under the sheets. Light snoring. Body gradually rising and falling with every breath.

He looked so peaceful.

"Steve." Tony stood on Cap's side of the bed, looming over his delicious form. "Steve. Steve. Steve."

After the sixth Steve, the body shifted and Tony heard a drowsy sort of groan.

"... Tony?"

"Steve."

"What is it?" Steve said, sitting up.

Letting the covers slip off, Tony’s reactor casting a glow against his skin.

"Productivity is down. I don't know why." Maybe Tony was hungry after all.

"What time is it?" Steve stifled a yawn.

"4:28AM. JARVIS, lighten up a little would you?"

The lights brightened just enough for Tony to see that Steve was shirtless. Which was common, since already it was difficult for Cap to find a decently fitting shirt - but really, who was complaining. Point was, who would want to feel constricted when trying to sleep? But it wasn't the lack of shirt that caught Tony's eye, but how when his eyes trailed down that wonderful physique, he caught Cap's bare hip bone, trailing over to a sheet that censored the view a little too well.

"Nudity," Tony mumbled.

Steve was rubbing his face, and at Tony's comment he paused and stared at him. "I could say the same for you," he commented.

Oh hey, Tony was naked too. And he mentally smacked himself for forgetting that just a few hours ago, they were going at it like rabbits.  

 

Steve's arms gave out and he sandwiched Tony between himself and the bed. His laugh was ragged but  loose, elated, a kind of high that Tony couldn’t recall hearing anywhere else. Like he was, literally, unbuttoned and left to relax.  

"J-just give me a moment..." he murmured in Tony's ear, unable to really lift his head.

Tony hummed and brushed his cheek in a sort of subconscious nuzzle. Really, Tony did not mind at all, and in the small chance that he did then that was a damn shame because Steve was down for the count, leaving Tony pinned. So it was a good thing Tony didn't mind, not at all. Their bodies lax and fitting into each other, aftershave and cologne lingering on Steve’s skin, on the tip of Tony’s tongue. Their skin sticking to skin, the room humid, filled with their scent. It would take a while for JARVIS to filter it all out.

Tony was sure this was a reflex, how one minute he had the urge to lick Steve’s collarbone, and the next his tongue slid along in a movement slow enough for him to catch the rising goose bumps.  

"Hm, like salty Rocket Popsicle." Tony slicked Steve’s hair back, studying his flushed face. How he still had enough energy to blush was remarkable. "You ever had one of those?"

"You bought them for me, remember?" Steve said, mouth kicking up in that effortless smile.

"Right," Tony laughed. "I would."

Steve propped himself up on his elbows and Tony caught the slight suction of skin leaving skin. Air filled in between them and it felt nice, the coolness of it working nicely with the icy glow of the reactor. Steve looked energized again, and the way he watched Tony already had him titillated. Eyes bright and honest, gleaming but gradually dissipating beneath dilating pupils. Tony laid there, content with just watching for a little bit, arm resting lazily on his stomach, their forms bathed by the bluish light. _God._

They managed another round before, well Tony didn’t remember what happened after his climax. He tried to keep up but even his libido was quenched by that super soldier adrenaline. He woke up to a dark, cool room with the Super Soldier’s arm wrapped around him, face buried in the crook of his neck. For a barrel-chested giant, Steve was able to fold pretty well into him, like a security blanket.

But Tony was awake, as he woke up every night automatically after a few painful hours of trying to properly sleep. He finally assumed that somewhere down the line of tinkering with the suits, pieces somehow lodged into him and he was now part android. Or a distant cousin to Agent, wow that was terrifying.

Either way, he moved to leave the bed, when he felt an arm tighten around him. Right, this was the first night he and Steve slept in the same room, Steve didn’t know about Tony’s insomnia. He’d have to explain it during regular day time hours.

Tony lifted Steve’s arm as carefully as he could, scooted out of bed, and set it back down. Steve’s pinched expression faded after shifting a little. Tony yawned, and almost considered not leaving. Almost.

 

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, that brow already taking on that furrow. “Why did you leave?”  

"Huh." Tony watched him for a little bit because he didn’t have an answer. Then, everything suddenly clicking into place. There was nothing he needed to tinker with because at the moment, he didn't have any anxiety. He didn't have anything that needed fixing or adjusting, and there wasn’t a flow chart to get around the issues with. For once, everything seemed right. For once he actually felt tired, a physical exhaustion that told him it was bed time instead of automatically going into hibernation mode.  

Maybe, just maybe, he was just content.

"You always know the right thing to say." Tony patted Steve's cheek before crawling into bed and shifting close to him. "JARVIS, kill the lights."

“I do?" Steve said after the room got dark again.

"Always modest. Give yourself some credit." Tony took Steve's arms and wrapped them around him since Captain America was the ultimate thermal blanket. He then pulled him down, back into bed, and got close.

"Goodnight Tony," Steve’s voice was husky in his ear, “Don’t leave until morning, okay?”  

"... Wouldn’t think of it," Tony heard himself mumble before he drifted off.

**Author's Note:**

> Waaay too much going on for the upcoming convention to really focus on my huge story. In its place, a one shot manifested itself. Hoped you liked it! :)


End file.
